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Region 6 News Release: DOL-OSHA-10-1294-DAL
Oct. 26, 2010
Contact: Elizabeth Todd       Juan Rodriguez
Email: todd.elizabeth@dol.gov       rodriguez.juan@dol.gov
Phone: 972-850-4710       972-850-4709

US Department of Labor’s OSHA recognizes Power Resources Ltd.
in Big Spring, Texas, for excellence in safety and health

BIG SPRING, Texas – Power Resources Ltd. in Big Spring has earned membership in the Voluntary Protection Programs of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration at the star, or highest, level for achieving three years of excellence in employee health and safety.

“Power Resources has demonstrated excellence in effective safety and health management,” said William A. Burke, OSHA’s acting regional administrator in Dallas, Texas. “The company’s outstanding efforts at this site led to zero injuries and illnesses over the past three years.”

Power Resources is a natural gas-fueled facility located in Howard County, Texas. About 19 workers perform functions including accounting, purchasing, operations, compliance and plant maintenance. The plant has an hourly net capacity of approximately 212 megawatts, which is approximately equal to all the electricity consumed by 114,000 homes or the city of Big Spring and four surrounding counties. The plant was constructed in the 1980s, achieving commercial operation in June 1987 and a final performance acceptance testing that was completed in February 1988.

Jack A Rector, director of OSHA’s El Paso Area Office and OSHA’s Lubbock District Office in Texas, attended today’s ceremony at the Power Resources facility on Refinery Road in Big Spring.

OSHA’s recognition programs include the VPP for employers and employees who have implemented exemplary workplace safety and health management systems. In the VPP, management, labor and OSHA work cooperatively and proactively to prevent injuries, illnesses and workplace hazards. As part of attaining VPP status, employers must demonstrate management commitment to the safety and health of their employees and actively involve employees in the safety and health management system.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audiotape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit http://www.dol.gov/compliance.

UnionTown Energy Appoints Terry Fields as CEO & President
Experienced Executive Manager to Head Oil & Gas Company

Las Vegas, NV, October 28, 2010 - UnionTown Energy Inc. (OTCBB: INBH) and Independent Oil & Gas Company announced that Mr. Terry Fields has been appointed to and accepted the position of CEO & President at the Company.

Mr. Fields’ business career spans more than 40 years in both the public and private sectors. After graduating from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and having received his Bachelor of Science Degree in 1965, he attended Loyola University School of Law in Los Angeles where he was Student Body President, earning the prestigious Loyola University School of Law Alumni Award and the American Bar Association Silver Key Award for Excellence.  

He obtained his Doctorate of Law Degree (J.D.) in 1968 and was admitted to the California State Bar in 1969. He engaged in trial law for fifteen years, subsequently specializing in Business and Corporate Law with an emphasis on finance, both domestic and international.  

Mr. Fields has held executive management and director positions in over a dozen publicly traded companies in both the United States and Canada, with his interest focused mostly in the resource area.  

At present, Mr. Fields holds the position of Officer and Director, on the Boards of Daulton Capital Corp., First Pursuit Ventures Ltd., Willow Creek Enterprises Ltd. and is a Director of Meadow Bay Capital Corp. All of the aforementioned companies are publicly reporting.  

The Company also announced the departure of Jurgen Wolf, Mauro Baessato and Christine Kilbourn from the company.

About Uniontown Energy

Uniontown Energy Inc. is an Independent Oil & Gas Company whose focus is the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas properties. The Company is pursuing a strategy of building a portfolio of energy producing assets that include coal bed methane, natural gas, shale gas, oil sands and deep natural gas throughout Western Canada and the United States. The Company’s flagship property is located in Kansas within the Cherokee basin, which has been producing gas from shale and coal deposits for over eighty years and has 2.8 Tcf of potential recoverable CBM. Please visit www.uniontownenergy.com  

Safe Harbor

The information in this release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although the company believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, actual results may differ materially. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, fluctuations in natural gas and crude oil prices; the timely receipt of necessary permits and approvals; market demand for, and/or available supplies of, energy-related products and services; unanticipated project delays, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, government regulation and taxation. More information about factors that potentially could affect the Company’s financial results is included in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For More Information Contact
Patrick Smyth
Phone: (702) 530-3241
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Release Number: 10-1514-NAT
Oct. 29, 2010
Contact: Diana Petterson     Jason Surbey
Phone: 202-693-1898     202-693-4668
E-mail: diana.petterson@dol.gov     surbey.jason@dol.gov

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis renews charter of
national safety and health advisory committee

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today renewed the charter of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health. The charter will expire in two years.

“Since OSHA’s inception, NACOSH has played an important role in advising the secretaries of labor and health and human services on worker safety issues such as hazard communication, the whistleblower program and providing ideas and input on ways to reduce worker deaths, injuries and illnesses,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “The members’ advice and recommendations are extremely valuable because they have a wealth of knowledge and real-world experience on a wide range of worker health and safety matters.”

Established as a continuing advisory committee under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, NACOSH advises, consults with and makes recommendations to the secretaries of labor and HHS on matters relating to the administration of the OSH Act, including providing feedback on OSHA and HHS initiatives to improve occupational safety and health.

NACOSH is comprised of 12 representative members. Eight members are appointed by the secretary of labor, one of whom the secretary appoints to serve as chair, and four members are appointed by the secretary of HHS. The composition of NACOSH is as follows:

• Two members represent management.
• Two members represent labor.
• Two members represent the occupational health professions. The secretary of HHS designates these members.
• Two members represent the occupational safety professions.
• Four members represent the public. The secretary of HHS designates two of these members.

For more information on NACOSH and the charter, go to http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-27439.htm or http://63.234.227.130/dop/nacosh/nacosh.html.

Under the OSH Act, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audiotape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit http://www.dol.gov/compliance.

CPUC Gives Rate Relief to San Bruno Customers; Ensures Safe Natural Gas Supply for Winter

San Francisco, October 28, 2010 - The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved rate relief to customers directly impacted by the Sept. 9, 2010, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) pipeline explosion in San Bruno, and ensured that safe natural gas supplies will be available to San Francisco and Peninsula customers this winter.

The CPUC approved PG&E’s request to provide bill relief to customers impacted directly by the Sept. 9, 2010, explosion of Line 132. Customers whose homes were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable as determined by the City of San Bruno will receive bill relief extending through the January 2012 billing cycle with the resumption of regular billing to occur with the February 2012 billing cycle. The bill relief will apply at a customer’s home at the explosion site as well as at one temporary housing location. Customers whose homes were not destroyed or rendered uninhabitable will receive bill relief through the December 2010 billing cycle. PG&E shareholders will bear the expense of the bill relief program.

“Our approval of this request will help alleviate some of the hardship that victims of the San Bruno explosion are facing. Having PG&E shareholders bear the cost of this bill relief is simply the right thing to do,” said Commissioner Nancy E. Ryan.

The proposal voted on is available at: http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/word_pdf/AGENDA_RESOLUTION/125573.pdf  

Separately, the CPUC, following the pipeline explosion, ordered the reduction of pressure in Line 132 by 20 percent. The CPUC noted that with winter approaching it will be necessary for the CPUC to investigate and determine the safety of increasing the pressure to meet the natural gas requirements for PG&E’s San Francisco and Peninsula customers, or to determine other ways to meet demand. Should it become necessary for the CPUC to make such a decision on this issue prior to a voting meeting, the CPUC authorized its President to make such a determination, with input from staff and an independent panel of experts, and subject to full CPUC confirmation at the following voting meeting.

Said CPUC President Michael R. Peevey, “I will not exercise this authority unless two preconditions are met. First, if we were to raise the pressure in the line at all, we must be satisfied, based on expert analysis, that it can be done safely. Second, we also must be convinced that even the smallest increase in pressure on Line 132 is absolutely necessary to meet gas demands. I will exercise the authority given to me today, if at all, only after getting advice from independent, qualified experts, including the Independent Panel the CPUC established at its meeting on October 14.”

President Peevey stressed that the CPUC’s highest priority and current expectation is that PG&E will be able to meet its gas demands this winter without any increase in pressure whatsoever on Line 132. “PG&E has options to meet demand without raising the pressure on Line 132. It has plans to isolate Line 132 from the other two gas pipelines that serve San Francisco and the Peninsula and the company can provide adequate and safe gas service under a variety of cold weather scenarios by leaning more heavily on these other two lines without increasing the pressure on Line 132 – and without operating the other two lines at unsafe pressures.”

Said Commissioner John A. Bohn, “We must proceed with great care. And we must assure ourselves that we have adequate scientific and engineering support for whatever decisions are made.”  

“Both of the items before us today (October 28) – bill relief for those impacted by the explosion, and delegation to the President to carry out needed safety directives – demonstrate the CPUC’s active and continuing oversight related to this tragedy, and that all of us are doing as much as we can, as quickly as we can, in this regard,” said Commissioner Timothy Alan Simon.

“With this action the CPUC will ensure that essential gas service will be maintained through periods of high winter demand without sacrificing the safety of the people of California,” said Commissioner Nancy E. Ryan.

The proposal voted on is available at: http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/word_pdf/AGENDA_RESOLUTION/125567.pdf.  

For more information on the CPUC, please visit www.cpuc.ca.gov.

For More Information Contact
Terrie Prosper
415.703.1366
news@cpuc.ca.gov
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Oct. 28, 2010—An ambitious pilot in the Netherlands, known as “van Plant tot Klant” (From Plant to Customer), is testing how well RFID technology can be used to reduce labor and increase the efficiency and accuracy of the shipment of potted plants throughout Europe. The Florilog Foundation (which aims to improve the horticultural supply chain by developing projects focused on gaining efficiency), located in Honselersdijk, is funding the project on behalf of Productschap Tuinbouw, a Dutch association consisting of members of the horticulture industry. The system, provided by Interaxi, includes EPC Gen 2 passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID tags to track trays of plants from two growers in the Netherlands, through the hands of logistics providers and exporters, to transport companies’ distribution centers, before the trays are then shipped to retailers.

The Dutch plant industry is seeking an automated system that would save space and time for members of the products’ supply chain, while also reducing errors. RFID, the project’s participants believe, offers an option by which tags on plant trays and trolleys could be read without manual intervention, thereby saving workers time that would otherwise be spent confirming orders and manually writing down order numbers of arriving and departing shipments.

The project, which began in the first quarter of 2009, includes two growers: Oriental Group, which grows bonsai, bamboo and other plants found in Asia, and Zuydgeest de Lier, which grows Calandiva (a Kalanchoe cultivar) and other flowering plants, all of which are purchased by buyers throughout Europe. Zuydgeest and Oriental Group ship plants from their greenhouses to a DC operated by logistics-management firm Sierteelt Direct, in the neighboring city of Naaldwijk. At Sierteelt’s DC, the plants are sorted according to orders, and are then transported to exporters such as Hamiplant (each exporter ships product to different parts of Europe, such as France or Germany). The exporters’ employees then rebuild the trolleys according to specific orders, and transport companies, such as Breewel Transport (which is also participating in the RFID pilot), pick up the plants via truck and transport them to retailers throughout Europe. In some cases, such as with shipments sent to Paris, the product is further broken down into smaller shipments at a DC, and then loaded onto smaller trucks for delivery to specific city neighborhoods.

Often with little understanding of what is happening with supply chain partners, logistics firms, exporters or transport companies can be taken by surprise when multiple orders arrive unexpectedly, or fail to arrive when expected. The plants must move quickly through the supply chain, and a lack of information communicated between supply chain partners can cause delays, as well as excessive labor costs to keep up with the unpredictable need throughout the day for manpower to process the plants as they arrive or need to be shipped.

For the Plant to Customer project, participants employed RFID to help them track the locations of shipped plants, and to share information regarding the receipt and subsequent release of each tray of potted plants to the next recipient, on a server hosted by Interaxi. For plants being shipped to those pilot participants, the two growers applied passive UPM Raflatac EPC Gen 2 RFID tags to plastic trays on which plants are placed Those trays are then put onto wheeled metal trolleys, explains Erik Heemskerk, Interaxi’s new business developer. The trolleys themselves also have an Omni-ID Flex EPC Gen 2 tag attached to the center front of the bottom shelf. When loading plants onto trays, employees at Zuydgeest or Oriental Group manually enter a description of the order in the van Plant tot Klant system, linking that description with the ID number on the tray’s tag and the trolley tag, after which the tags are printed on an RFID label printer and stickered on the trays.

As the trolleys are loaded onto trucks destined for Sierteelt Direct, they pass through a Motorola RFID portal (each portal consists of one reader and eight antennas—four on each side of the dock doors), capturing the IDs encoded to the trolley and tray tags, and transmitting that data via a cabled connection to Interaxi’s software, which links each ID number with a date and time stamp. Interaxi’s software platform uses Microsoft Silverlight for the user interface, and Microsoft BizTalk Server RFID 2009 for the storage of and access to information on Interaxi’s own server.